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PASSAIC COUNTY, N.J. -- Real estate in Passaic County remained a hot and valuable commodity in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Home sales rose 7 percent in the fourth quarter and finished the year up 13 percent compared to 2014, according to the fourth quarter report from Better Homes & Gardens Rand Realty.

Passaic County also saw a notable increase in prices. Both the median and average sale price averaged more than 5 percent higher in the fourth quarter than in same quarter in 2014.

“Passaic had the best year of the local markets in terms of price increases,’’ said Joe Rand, Managing Partner for Better Homes & Gardens Rand Realty. “We’re especially seeing price appreciation in the bread and butter market, in the mid $400s.”

Rand said quarterly sales have increased in Passaic County in 17 of the last 19 quarters. With nearly 3,000 unit sales, real estate activity was the highest in Passaic County since 2006, at the height of the last sellers’ market.

“Although prices bounced around a little in 2015, they finished the year strong,’’ Rand said. “Even with the ups and downs throughout the year, Passaic still finished 2015 with a solid 2.1 percent increase in the average and 3.1% at the median, marking the third straight year of modest-but-meaningful price appreciation. Prices still have a long way to go to recover from the market correction of 2008-09, but they are moving in the right direction.”

Rand paints a positive outlook for real estate in the region in 2016, particularly in Passaic County. “We believe that Passaic’s fundamentals are sound, with homes priced at relatively attractive levels, rates near historic lows, and a stable economy,'' he said. "We expect that Passaic County will flower into a full-realized seller’s market in 2016, marked by continued increases in both sales and prices.”